1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to electronic music markers with integrated communication port.
2. Description of the Related Art
With rapid increase in portable electronic devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) enabled mobile telephones, there has been a steady increase in these devices capable of performing more operations.
Sony Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary, Sony Electronics, Inc., introduced a so called e-marker which is capable of xe2x80x9cbookmarkingxe2x80x9d a music clip while being played on a radio and is capable of recalling the information related to the bookmarked music clip such as the name of the song, the artist, the album containing the song and so on. Using the e-marker, a user can conveniently access the music clip information that the user listened to on the radio at a later time without the need to memorize the information or wait hopefully for the disc jockey on the radio station to provide that information. In this manner, if the user wants to, for example, purchase the music album which the user has marked using the e-marker, the user can easily identify the necessary information related to the marked music clip from the e-marks provided by the e-marker.
The presently available e-marker devices are provided with a USB port for connection to a personal computer and the like for accessing the user""s e-marker account over an internet connection. The existing configuration of the e-marker devices is such that the device itself in its entirely must be plugged into the cradle which, in turn, is connected to the personal computer""s input port such as a USB port, thus allowing synchronization of the data stored in the e-marker device with the user""s e-marker account accessed at www.emarker.com website.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown e-marker device 1A and cradle 1B. E-marker device 1A is provided with a housing comprising body 101 and cap 102. Body 101 is provided with e-mark button 103 which is configured for user input commands. Also, as shown, there are provided on body 101 display panels 104a and 104b which are configured to display the number of user inputted e-marks and the type of registered broadcast station for the corresponding e-marks, respectively. Finally, body 101 includes USB port 105 which is permanently fixed onto body 101 such that, as will be discussed in further detail below, body 101 may be placed on top of cradle 1B with USB port 105 capable of being plugged into the corresponding port on cradle 1B.
Cap 102 can be attached to body 101 when access to USB port 105 is unnecessary. As shown, cap 102 is provided with a pair of release/lock buttons 106 on either side of cap 102 such that by depressing release/lock buttons 106 when cap 102 is locked with body 101, cap 102 can be released from a locked position and access to USB port 105 can be obtained. Furthermore, cap 102 is provided with hole 107 substantially at its edge position such that link chain 108 can be looped through hole 107 to allow the user to attach the e-marker device to a key chain or the like.
Referring back to FIG. 1, cradle 1B is provided with cradle base 110 substantially flat on its bottom surface (not shown) to rest cradle 1B on a flat surface such as a desktop and a book shelf. On the other side of the bottom surface of cradle 1B is receiving section 111 substantially positioned on the middle of cradle 1B, where USB port 112 is provided for connection to USB port 105 of the e-marker device. Also shown in FIG. 1 is cable 113 attached to cradle 1B with USB port 114 at its other end. In this manner, cradle 1B can be connected to an external gateway devices such as a personal computer and the like for accessing the user""s e-marker account over an internet connection.
With the e-marker device connected to cradle 1B via the pair of USB ports, 105, 112, the e-marker device can transfer user marked data (for example, data marks) to the user""s e-marker account by connecting USB port 114 of cradle 1B to the personal computer or other peripheral device which can provide access to the user""s e-marker account over an internet connection.
With increase in the different types of electronic devices that can be connected to a personal computer, the space requirement for accommodating all such devices at a user""s desk at home or at a working area continues to rise. For example, with personal digital assistants (PDAs) such as Palm Pilots and Handspring Visors, generally, cradles are provided to allow the user to synchronize data from these PDAs to the user""s computer such that data can be duplicated and stored on the user""s computer for backup and storage purposes. The cradle connected to the user""s computer usually by a short cable, requires some space near the computer such that it can remain connected to the user""s computer for ease of data synchronization.
Indeed, while the PDAs provide one example, there are other handheld devices commercially available that require connection to a user""s computer for purposes of data exchange, storage and the like. With the rise in the number of different types of such devices, the area near a computer""s connection ports (generally found on the back panel of a personal computer, for example) and the vicinity around the computer itself is more cluttered and crowded. While the infra-red (IR) ports are provided with some devices and computers as well for data exchange therebetween, physical connection between the cradles of the handheld devices and the personal computers still remain the predominant connection presently available.
Given the above, it would be desirable to provide handheld, portable electronic devices such as e-marker devices that do not require a cradle for connection to a personal computer and the like for data exchange and storage.
In view of the foregoing, in one embodiment, an e-marker device is provided which incorporates the function and capability of a cradle such that the e-marker device can be directly connected to a gateway device such as a personal computer and the like for data communication and transfer.
An electronic music marker with integrated communication of one embodiment includes a housing having a main body portion and a cap portion, the cap portion pivotally mounted to the main body portion at a first edge such that the cap portion is configured to pivot about the first edge between an open position and a closed position, and a communication port connected to the housing via a retractable cable, where the housing substantially encases the communication port and the retractable cable when the cap portion is in the closed position.
In another embodiment, there is provided a method including pivotally mounting a cap portion of a housing to a main body portion of the housing at a first edge such that the cap portion is configured to pivot about the first edge between an open position and a closed position, and connecting a communication port to the housing via a retractable cable, where the housing substantially encases the communication port and the retractable cable when the cap portion is in the closed position.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.